#antideficiency-act

#antideficiency-act

The Monday letter - led by Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., and also signed by Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., Eugene Vindman, D-Va., and Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. - argues that DHS violated the Antideficiency Act when it reassigned those Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency staff to roles within Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Protective Service and Customs and Border Protection.

Today's layoffs are the work of White House Budget Director Russell Vought, a lead creator of the Project 2025 playbook, which planned a massive reduction in the federal workforce. In a post on X earlier today, Vought announced that the terminations "have begun." But as The Washington Post has previously reported, senior government officials have warned that Vought's layoffs amid a shutdown are likely illegal, running afoul of the Antideficiency Act.

Although the federal government shutdown appears ready to begin at 12:01 AM on October 1, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is likely to continue in normal operation by drawing on its Operating Reserve which the agency has been building up over the past several years. A prolonged shutdown would eventually exhaust the reserves and trigger an end to spending.